Berlin, NJ

Blogging, is it dead or dying? Social Media Networking, is it a fad or will it just be dust in the wind by next year. Shopping online? Searching online? Where does it all begin and where can it all end.

Now, I am not an expert when it comes to such subjects, nor do I do this for a living, but I do have my own strong opinions in regards to these specific topics. Keep in mind, much of what you read about is opinion over time.

Recently there have been a lot of posts written about these subjects and what inspired me to write about this. I listed them below. Please read: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Getting My Daughter High at the Beach. by : Joel McDonald - Joel states this in his blog... "Before I Let me start off this post by saying "your headline is everything." ......."

I have to disagree with that statement and I will explain why. But a boring headline that has key words, will get your searched. And ps... yes, a catchy headline can be good at times, but if you fool the reader, to get them there, you could lose that same reader for good.

• Blogging is Dead - by : Courtney Cooper - This post was written because of a comment that David Gibbons stated on Twitter. "Blogging is Dead". My opinion about that statement? Just an attention getter, right or wrong.

Courtney brings this up.... "I keep hearing that blogging is a dinosaur,..... Twitter and Facebook ... The growth they have both seen this year is truly phenomenal. Is social media taking over blogging?"

And then she goes on to say that she doesn't believe that blogging is dead. I agree ...

• I am an Active TwitFace.... are you? - by : John Cannata - John talks about his daily routines both on Active Rain, Twitter, and Facebook, and how he thinks it's important to socialize on these.
  

• Re-defining ROI in the age of social media. - by : Matt Stigliano - Matt shares his opinion about ROI's when it comes to Twitter and Facebook. ROI is your return of investment. He lists some good examples to why this is good.
  

• A "soft-sell" approach to marketing your listings on Facebook w/seller participation by : RealEstateSupport - A great way to market your listings on Facebook.
  

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Social Media Networking & Marketing.... I will admit, I did get caught up in the craze about 10 months ago and even wrote about it, Social Media Marketing, and it's importance.

Sure, I think it's important to network and to socialize online. Here are my opinions on the 3, Active Rain, Twitter, and Facebook.

Active Rain - I love Active Rain and a networking group like this. I think it's easy. You can blog and comment at your own pace. Network with others from all over. And you don't have to be right in front of your computer/cell phone 24/7.

Twitter - I think this could be a fad. Sure, you can follow people in a group on twitter through tweetdeck, but a lot of what happens here is in real time. Which means you have to be visible often, sharing updates.

Facebook - I think it's easier to follow people here. Sure, the main page is in real time or you can go to someone's profile page and she what they have written lately. I think this is easier than what's on Twitter. You can also start a fan page and give updates directly there. My fan page on Facebook : The FHA Expert

Blogging and titles of Blogs :

- Blogging - I don't believe blogging is dead and will never be dead. Yes, I hate saying that word never. But my common sense would state that as long as people use the internet for searching, they will find your blogs.

I have talked to people such as Ken Cook about this matter, who is on top of the social media networking concept. Ken Cook and Jason Crouch hold a weekly call about this and supply some good information. Find them on their Blog Talk Radio show. Social Media Edge - Talk Show

My point to this, and Ken agrees with me, is that blogging will always be there and I feel that it's better than interfacing with such things as Twitter and Facebook. Here is why...

Twitter and Facebook is real time in most cases. You need to grab that persons attention now or in the first 24 hours. In regards to blogging, you could blog today and be searched :

• that same day

• the next day

• a week or month from now

• 6 months to a year.... etc, etc. I closed 3 deals this year from someone finding a blog of mine over a year ago.
  

With blogging, you are planting seeds and if you use the correct tags and hot key words, you will be searched. Keep in mind, writing good content is important. Confusing for those that are new to this? For more information about blogging, please read : Crash Course on Blogging In my opinion, blogging will be here to stay as long as the internet is active and that people search online. Keep in mind, more and more people are becoming informational 'hogs'. Some people love to read.

- Titles of blogs - I do believe a catchy title can work. But I don't think they serve its purpose as many would think and or assume. If you make people curious, they will come and look. But will they stay long? And keep in mind, this is like a quick fix, but titles don't usually last long in the blogosphere. Not unless you have some of your 'hot' key words in the title.

Key words will out last a catchy title any day of the week. Example : I am wrote about those listing agents that don't accept offers with FHA loans. Which title do you think would work best for me?

1. Listing Agents can destroy a perfectly good offer. - Catchy, but it would be hard to search for this, unless you used those exact words.
   
2. Those offers with FHA loans. - Good to capture those searching for FHA loans.
   
3. Sellers !! Ignore what your listing agent tells you about FHA loans !!! - A catchy title and some have said misleading. But it also has a few good key words that can be searched in several different combinations.

Summary : In my opinion, just use common sense when writing your blog and especially when writing the title of your blog. Do you want to be a rock star for a day or for a life time? I would rather be found now and later, and not just razzle you with headlines, looking for attention now.

Overall, don't get me wrong. The blogs that I mentioned above, they all bring up some very good points and tips. And I know you can get business from Twitter and Facebook. And you can use either one to get your blogs out there. But after speaking to a few others that are knowledgeable about this topic, I think a lot of what we hear is opinion, proven by fact, but facts that can be used for their argument. What about the flip side of the argument? Me? I want to know to know the possibilities and example of both sides. thanks

For AR Members FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

- FHA Loans - USDA Loans - VA Loans -

- Energy Efficient Mortgages -

- Conventional Loans - 203 k loans -

- Mortgages -

Experience & Knowledge at its BEST !!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information on FHA loans, please go to this link. The FHA Expert

For more information about the 2009 Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers : 2009 Tax Credit

For important mortgage insight to watch for, please read : Consumers need to be aware of these Red Flags !!!!

Copyright © 2009 by Jeff Belonger of Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc

For many that don’t know, FHA was created by the National Housing Act of 1934. What people need to understand is that FHA doesn’t make the loans, but that they insure the mortgages for the lenders sake. The investors/lenders are the entities that make loans to borrowers. HUD, which stands for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is a government agency that was started in 1965 to help homeowners achieve that American Dream. They help borrowers with HUD approved programs, approves lenders to be FHA approved, and helps borrowers utilize the programs and guidelines set forth for FHA loans. Again, FHA is does not lend money. I only mention this because I get so many calls telling me that FHA will do this or do that, because it states it on the HUD website. The average consumer needs to understand that they set the guidelines for investors to follow, but it’s the investors that have specific overlays, meaning that they can add to the guidelines to make the loan more sell-able on Wall Street. A great example is that FHA has no specific credit scores, but most lenders won’t go below a 600 credit score. That is the investors choice, which can super-cede anything set by HUD for FHA loans.

The Assistant Secretary of Housing, Brian Montgomery, put out a new mortgagee letter just recently. FHA always puts out new mortgagee letters when there are changes in guidelines, but in this case, HUD wanted to make others aware of the seriousness of this issue. This mortgagee letter, ML 2009-12, is about Mortgagee Monitoring. The letter talks about FHA reactivating its Special Work Assessment Teams, which is called SWAT. SWAT is to conduct on-site reviews of the lenders whose loans are exhibiting signs of distress. In my opinion, this is a great sign that HUD is holding mortgagees accountable for their lending practices which will protect the FHA insurance fund which has been in trouble as of lately because of the many defaults and foreclosures.

Here is a great example of how much the usage of FHA loans has grown over the last 1 1/2 years because of the higher standards of conventional loans and because of the demise of the subprime loans. Just in New Jersey alone, in 2008, there were about an additional 500 new approved FHA underwriters. This number went from around 300 to 800. Just in the last year, there have been more 1st payment defaults, foreclosures, and certain detections of fraud. It’s been shown that many of these new underwriters are missing specific issues or are being more lienent on their approvals. Hence why HUD came out with this new mortgagee letter, letting lenders and underwriters know that they are reviewing certain practices. So here is a list of what HUD expects each lender to review and to insure a good loan : (this list has come directly from mortgagee letter 2009-12)

• implements and maintains a comprehensive quality control plan,

• reviews all loans with early payment defaults;

• does not engage in false or misrepresentative advertising; (I love this one and this should have taken place decades ago)

• fully documents the stability and amount of borrower(s) income; and,

• does not charge excessive and unallowable fees to the borrower.

Conclusion : Overall, the Department of HUD would expect each mortgagee to originate a mortgage with the same care and underwriting the FHA loanjust as it would for a loan in which the lender would be entirely dependent on the property as security to protect it’s investment. In basic terms, that the lender would care for the loan as if it were it’s own child for the next 20 years. And if a mortgagee, the lender that approves the mortgage, fails to comply with HUD’s policies, then HUD would take appropriate action. Such actions would be to suspend the lender from originating FHA loans or to actually terminate that lender’s DE license. (delegated underwriting license)

In regards to my 16 years in the mortgage industry, I think it’s about time that we crack down on those that fail the integrity of lending and the lending quidelines. It’s one thing to try and to make a loan work, but another to ignore specific guidelines and or to commit fraud.

- FHA Loans - USDA Loans - VA Loans -

- Energy Efficient Mortgages -

- Conventional Loans - 203 k loans -

- Mortgages -

Experience & Knowledge at its BEST !!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information on FHA loans, please go to this link. The FHA Expert

For more information about the 2009 Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers : 2009 Tax Credit

For important mortgage insight to watch for, please read : Consumers need to be aware of these Red Flags !!!!

Copyright © 2009 by Jeff Belonger